A real estate company partially owned by U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler won the right from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a marina along the shoreline of a lake, an action that has raised concern because Shuler serves on a committee that exercises oversight of the TVA.

Shuler owns 80 percent of Highlands Development Group, which has a 50 percent stake in a development called The Cove at Blackberry Ridge near Knoxville. Shuler’s interest in the project was valued last December at $5 million to $25 million, according to financial disclosure records.

You can’t really blame Shuler for making this deal. After all, he knows that the Democratic Congress, with members like Rep. Alan Mollohan, Rep. William Jefferson, and Sen. Harry Reid, won’t lift a finger to investigate the malfeasance. However, Down the Ticket-sponsored candidate Carl Mumpower has reacted:

Asheville City Councilman Carl Mumpower, who faces Shuler in November, said the congressman exercised “poor judgment or selective ethics” in conducting business with the TVA while serving on a committee that has authority over the agency.

“It did not take our new congressman long to learn how the political power system works,” said Mumpower, a Republican. “I would personally be uncomfortable to serve on a committee and take advantage of opportunities involving what the committee addresses.”